Hurt
by wikelia
Summary: Trigger warning for abuse. Astrid Hofferson finds herself getting increasingly hot headed as she sees a brown haired man receive more and more harsh words from his girlfriend.
1. Chapter 1

All Astrid Hofferson wanted to do on her day off was get a muffin and some hot chocolate, and then lounge around her apartment and do nothing. For once, to be relaxed.

What a laughable thought that was.

She had just stepped into the shop, the pleasant smell of the bakery filling her nose and making her drowsy. It was still in the wee hours of the morning - which was perfect, because the shop got busy later in the day. Besides the man behind the counter, there was another guy sitting at a two seater table alone, and her attention was drawn to him quickly, because there was a dark red bruise on his cheek.

It contrasted with his pale skin. He had brownish-reddish hair, and bright but downcast green eyes. All in all attractive, but that bruise hadn't come out of thin air.

Probably a fistfight. Some people were crazy.

Their eyes met for a brief moment, but they both looked away. She walked past him, yawning softly before giving her order to the man behind the counter. He gave her the muffin right away, and got started on her hot chocolate.

The door flew open, and Astrid shivered as the early November breeze seeped in. She really needed to get a better jacket. A young woman had walked in, and she looked furious, plopping herself down in front of the man with a glare.

Oh boy. Someone was mad. She didn't know the relation between the two people, but she could guess that the woman might be mad about wherever that fresh looking bruise had come from.

Astrid was just about to let herself get lost in her thoughts when the woman hissed, loudly, "Who the fuck do you think you are?"

That got her attention real quickly. Astrid didn't look their way, but she was attentive now. It wasn't eavesdropping, the woman wasn't even trying to whisper. Instead, she continued to talk in that loud hiss of her's.

"Not a single text. You think you're allowed to just walk out of my house, you fucking moron? And then all I get is a text? I'm your goddamn girlfriend, and you better start treating me like it."

This earned a side glance to the couple. The man was still looking down, and as Astrid noticed, he was shaking a little too. She averted her gaze as the woman looked up.

"You see that girl over there? You should thank her," the woman snarled, "because she is the only reason I'm not beating the fucking shit out of you right now. Just fucking wait until we get home, Hiccup, I swear."

Astrid clicked her tongue, and her mouth felt dry. Had that bruise on the man's cheek come from this woman, his girlfriend? Oh, something was very wrong here. Another glance proved that the man, Hiccup, was still looking down, only now he was shaking and cowering very noticeably. She swore a tear slipped down his cheek.

Right, yeah, she had heard enough to gauge the situation.

The server came back and handed her the warm cup. Astrid took a deep breath, thanked him, and then slid into the table next to the couple rather than going back home like she had planned. It felt like she was on some reality show, the ones that would gauge people's reaction. There was a slightly nauseating feeling in her stomach.

She was a cop. She shouldn't have let these things affect her whether they were inside or outside of a case.

There was a minute of silence, and then finally, Hiccup spoke, in a slightly nasally voice, "I - I ordered for you."

The woman scoffed. "Oh, great, What did you order this time, you idiot?"

He swallowed, and Astrid wanted so badly to reach out and hold his hand and hug him. "I - I got what you ordered last time. The - the…"

"The what?" she snapped, and Astrid's fists clenched.

"I f-forgot what it's called, but I pointed to the picture on the menu. It's the one you liked last time," he whimpered, shifting in his seat. The woman started to mock his stutter.

Oh fucking hell, would it look way too bad for her if she just decked the woman in the face?

Sure enough, two minutes later, a hot, sweet treat was brought from the kitchen and placed in front of the woman. Astrid gauged her reaction carefully.

"Oh, look at that, the dummy actually did something right for once."

There was a second where absolute fury passed through the blonde and she knew she was going to speak up now, but she needed just a moment to calm down or she would be jumping on the woman.

As she took a huge bite out of her treat, Astrid leaned forward with a steely glare.

"Excuse me?"

"Hmm?"

"Are you on drugs, or do you get off on being a bitch?"

The woman's eyes widened, and Hiccup's head snapped up to face her. He was still trembling, so Astrid stood up right next to their table.

"I'm sorry?"

"Your ears work," she spat, glaring down at the woman, "I asked, do you get off on being a bitch? Because from what I see, this guy hasn't done anything to you and you're being a jerk to him."

The woman opened her mouth and closed it as Hiccup pressed back into his chair, looking afraid. "Listen, sweetheart. This is none of your business, so I think you should just -"

"I'm a police officer," Astrid interrupted, gazing coolly, "and, you know, someone with morals. I really think you should leave."

"Oh, like I wanted to stay in this dump!" The woman's lip curled in disgust, and she reached out to grab Hiccup's arm, but Astrid grabbed her's before she touched him.

"Nuh uh." Her words were laced with anger. "Don't touch him, because I can see how bad that bruise on his face is. And if he's got others, which I'm betting he does, you might well be charged with attempted murder. Oh, sure, I know," Astrid said, seeing her mouth open in protest, "you would never let it go that far, you love him, yadda yadda yadda. Get lost."

With that, she let the woman's arm go, although she kept her hand in front of Hiccup, who was staring wide eyed at the spectacle. The woman's fists clenched, but at least she seemed to have accepted that she lost. She stood up, turned to her boyfriend and said, "Call me, got it?", and left the shop, making the drumming in Astrid's chest calm down, just a little.

Slowly and hesitantly, Astrid sat down where the woman had been sitting, and she peered at Hiccup, trying to notice anything she had missed when he walked in. He was scrawny, although very close to looking underweight, and he couldn't seem to look her in the eyes at all.

"T-t-thanks."

"Don't worry about it. So that was your girlfriend?"

He nodded shortly.

"Alright, well, you...you don't have to be with her, if you don't want to. What she was saying and doing, that all looks like an abusive relationship, you know?"  
"Mmhm," he mumbled softly.

"Can I order anything for you?" Astrid tried. "My treat. Anything you want."

Hiccup shook his head frantically, his hand twitching on the table. "N-no. Please. I'm not hungry."

"Okay, do have anywhere to stay?"

"No. I-I'm sorry, I live with her and she made me move out and -"

"Hey. It's okay," Astrid soothed, reaching over to place a hand over his. He flinched, and Astrid realized his hand was freezing cold. She stroked it gently to warm him up, and his cheeks turned a bright red.

"Do you want to go to the station with me?" she asked quietly. "I could make sure that she won't come near you again, and...and you don't deserve to be with someone who hurts you."

Finally, he looked up at her, and his eyes were shining with tears, and he choked out, "Thank you."

"Don't worry about it," Astrid repeated, and the she stood up, took out her phone, and pressed the first number on her speed dial. "Hello? Yes, it's Hofferson, Captain. There's a young man here at the bakery on Hooligan Street, he was just with a woman who was threatening to hit him and there's a huge bruise on his cheek. She's left, but...yes. Yeah, Peralta is - oh, okay, is Santiago free? Okay, okay, thank you."

She hung up, and then leaned down next to Hiccup, holding his other hand and looking up at him. "An officer is on her way here, she'll look a lot more dignified than I do, I promise." She cracked a smile and the corner of his lips quirked upwards.

"Until then, are you sure you don't want to eat something?"

"I'm sure," he said quietly.

"Alright. I'm Astrid, by the way. Astrid Hofferson." She stretched out her hand with a light smile. "And you're Hiccup?"

"Henry. But Hiccup is fine. It's what everyone calls me."

Astrid held onto his hand, nodding. "Alright. Hiccup. Are you ready to put her behind you?"

Hiccup didn't say anything, just looked at her with a slight hint of fear in his eyes. But there was also relief, and as he squeezed her fingers gently, Astrid realized this might have been one of the most rewarding feelings she had ever experienced.


	2. Chapter 2

Astrid wrapped her coat tighter around herself, crunching leaf after leaf beneath her as she walked, shivering. She had woken up late, so there was no time to go to the bakery before she had to meet up with Hiccup in the park.

Despite the cold, she was feeling quite cozy. It was just another one of those days - nice and comfortable. Her and Hiccup would sit and talk a bit about everything, from his latest appointment to which Avenger would most likely die in the final movie.

And this wasn't as a cop and victim. They were good friends, and as more time pulled Hiccup apart from his past girlfriend, he slowly but surely began to heal. The scared man Astrid had met almost three years before was now able to carry easy conversations, initiate some physical contact, and was an extremely fun person to be with.

He was sarcastic, witty, and a very easy going person in general. Okay, so maybe a few months back she had realized that she started liking him, but there was absolutely no way she would be telling him that. It was unlikely that he would want a relationship with her, or a relationship at all. And Astrid would not jeopardize his healing just because she had developed feelings. She wasn't a child, she had perfect self control.

"Hey, Ast!" Hiccup was already there, like he usually was, and he had a cup - probably coffee - in his hand. His grin upon seeing her turned into a frown. "Where're your hot chocolate? You never come without it."

Astrid yawned, stretching her arms. "I was working overtime yesterday, so I overslept today. I didn't want to be late to see you, babe."

"You didn't have to -" Hiccup began.

"But if I kept you waiting, we'd have less time to discuss why it's totally Tony and not Steve who's gonna kick the bucket." She smirked as Hiccup's eyes lighted up with amusement.

"He's Captain America!"

"Exactly! Too symbolic. Meanwhile, Tony, fan favorite, definitely impactful, death would be a big deal."

They started walking, keeping up the conversation, although they drifted to other topics. Hiccup offered her his coffee, and she took a sip and declared that she could never be a coffee person in her life.

"Astrid? I, uh, actually, wanted to ask you something." There was a light blush on his cheeks as he leaned against a tree. "It was...important. Can I?"

She hummed and stood in front of him, with her hands in her pockets. "Of course. You can ask me anything, Hiccup, go on."

There was hesitancy written all over his face and Hiccup swallowed, looking away for a second before taking a deep breath. He opened his mouth to speak, but no words came out - instead, his face just burned red. Astrid took pity, but she had no idea what could get him this worked up, and so couldn't help him through it. "Can you write it down? Would that make it easier."

"N-no." He groaned, burying his face in his hands. "I knew it wasn't a good idea, I knew it IknewitIknewitIknewit -"

"Hey, whoa!" Hiccup hadn't doubted himself on this level of intensity for a while, and she had no idea what the problem was. So she took his hands like she always did when he was upset, pulling them away from his face and rubbing her thumbs along the back of them. "Hey, babe. It's alright. Whatever it is, you can tell me."

He swallowed, looked down, and said very quietly, "I like you."

Astrid fell silent, her brain whirring and her heart beating a little faster. She didn't ask him to repeat himself, she simply stared at him, gaping lightly.

She wasn't an idiot in a romcom. She knew what he meant.

"You're - you - wow." Astrid found herself blushing as well, but still, she reached out and tilted his chin up. It always brought a smile to her face when he looked happy at being able to look her in the eye. "You're serious."

Hiccup frowned immediately, and he squeezed her hands, probably subconsciously. "I - I know that you must be completely grossed out and - and I get it, it's okay, but the therapist said I should just get it out there…"

He was rambling, so Astrid leaned in close and let their foreheads touch. While finding it romantic in movies, she wasn't a fan of just swooping in and pressing a kiss to his lips, not when he had such a bad history with force like that. Alternatively (and much more romantic, in her opinion), she fluttered her lashes and asked, "Hiccup? Would you kiss me?"

All the words stopped pouring out of his mouth and his bright green eyes widened as he swallowed nervously. "Are you sure?"

"Maybe I'll believe your Dumbledore is still alive theory if you do," she mumbled, a small smile playing on her lips as she remembered another debate they had.

Hiccup was still hesitant, but he did lean forward and touched her lips softly, leaving her hands in favor of slowly wrapping his arms around her waist, something she was grateful for, because she was cold to the touch and Hiccup was warm.

It wasn't anything sensual or arousing or intense, but it added on perfectly to Astrid's cozy autumn mood. She wrapped her arms around his neck and smiled against his mouth as she got a taste of him.

Okay, maybe it was a little more than having feelings for him. She was melting a bit.

Soft and gentle and cozy and perfect. Astrid pulled back and found that her bright smile was mirrored by his own.

"Y-you promise you meant that?" Hiccup asked, gazing into her eyes. "Not a pity kiss?"

Astrid laughed at that, cupping his face briefly to kiss his cheek. "Pity kiss? Please, babe, if I wanted to pity kiss someone I'd kiss Peralta. He's been pining over Santiago for ages now, he needs a pity kiss. But I guess I can't be too hard on him, because I've been pining over you too."

"You're joking."

"I restate, Peralta is the one I'd go through the trouble of pity kissing. Of course, that's off the table if I'm kissing you."

Hiccup's eyes widened in something close to wonder. "You're amazing."

"Touché, babe." Her smile was growing wider. Hiccup hugged her tightly, hiding his eyes and his smile in the crook of her neck. Astrid laughed again, kissing his cheek. "Touché."

 **Okay, so I got reviews for this really quickly, and since I have been in a writing mood, I obliged and wrote a second part, a happy ending. A few quick things to say.**

 **Hiccup is clearly OOC, he was in an abusive relationship, although he's certainly no macho man in canon.**

 **I don't think Astrid is an abusive girlfriend in canon.**

 **And yes, I am well aware that things do not end up so well for victims, but I don't generally do sad endings (probably four or five times since I've started writing fics) and so I usually end on a positive note. I am not a psychologist, I am not a therapist, I am not a doctor, I am a fanfiction writer.**

 **Please review!**


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